"CSN Stores, one of the largest online retailers of housewares and home furnishings in the U.S., announced today that it has raised $165 million in funding from four investment firms to increase its ongoing expansion both internationally and in the U.S., target appropriate acquisitions, and drive extensive marketing around a new brand launching later this summer, Wayfair.com.

This is the first time that CSN Stores has raised institutional funding in its nine-year history and this funding amount is one of the largest investment rounds reported for any online company so far in 2011.

"We've grown profitably every year since 2002 and have continued to aggressively reinvest in the business, but with our new group of advisors and this infusion of funding, we have plans to grow even more quickly," said Niraj Shah, CSN's CEO and co-founder.

"Our emerging international businesses will see more resources, and we'll be investing in a major consumer brand launch. Looking ahead four or five years, we think with the help of our investors, we are on the path to becoming a much-larger, publicly-traded company."

CSN Stores, which jumped 50 percent in sales from 2009 to 2010, and which is growing again at over 50 percent in 2011, expects to well surpass the $500 million dollar mark this year."

CSN Stores / Wayfair is much more open than before about their revenue growth and other business figures.

The furniture and décor retailer boasts having beat out Crate & Barrel in the US online home goods market. It is also one of the few online high performers that Amazon hasn’t picked up yet.

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.